Stories
Talk to Them as Sweetly as You Talk to Me
by Ray at THCBl. Sr. Faustina had received Holy Communion only an hour before when she was summoned to handle a slight turmoil. 5 unemployed had come to the convent demanding work and were becoming boisterous. While she was still a good distance away, she could hear them banging loudly. She was filled with doubt and fear and was not sure whether she should open the gate holding these men out. She said, “suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul saying, ‘Go and open the gate and talk to them as sweetly as you talk to Me.”
She did as she was beckoned and the men quickly changed their demeanors. They soon left calmly. Sr. Faustina said, “I felt clearly that Jesus … had worked in their hearts through me.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for November 11.
Patrick Madrid
by Ray at THCWhen Patrick Madrid told his family that he was converting to Roman Catholicism, he spoke with his mother and brother that night from 10:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. the next morning. While very difficult for them to accept at first, as a result of this and further discussions, his father, mother and two brothers would eventually make the same choice. One of his brothers even entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia.
Writing in his book, Surprised by Truth, Mr. Madrid said: “The joy and peace that I now experience, the doctrinal certitude that I now possess, and the tremendous graces that are mine in the sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist, are riches far beyond anything I expected.”
Patrick Madrid has gone on to be a renowned Catholic speaker and apologist, and currently hosts a daily program, coast to coast, on Relevant Radio.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for October 28.
Elsie Briggs
by Ray at THCElsie Briggs submitted this story of her conversion to the Boston Pilot:
“There is nothing brilliant or scholarly that attracted me to the Roman Catholic Church. What attracted me to Catholicism was love.
“It all goes back about ten years when beaten and disillusioned I crept into the rear of the Mission Church in Roxbury to rest. I didn’t go in because I was attracted to the church, or because I sought spiritual refreshment; it was only a place to sit down and get off my feet and find, if possible, a few moments of forgetfulness.
“How long I sat there, I don’t know, but I suddenly became aware of something living. There was an actual presence all around that seemed to emanate from the altar. It was pleasing and restful to feel. And without half realizing what I was doing I moved up front until I was sitting in the first pew.
“The weariness and strain all fell away and a great sense of peace and love came over me, combined with an intense desire to sleep…
“And right here and now I want to explain that at that time I knew absolutely nothing about the Catholic teachings. No one had ever told me of the Host or of the ever-present living God on the altar…
“For the first time I learned how wrong the average Protestant is in his supposed knowledge of the Catholic Faith. There certainly is nothing more ignorant than nine Protestants out of ten, when it comes to the teachings of the Church of Rome.
“All the old wives’ tales, all the lies I had heard from childhood about Catholics were exposed by the light of truth. What a pity there should be such ignorance of God’s truth and how many Protestants, such as I was then, would gladly and eagerly accept the church and her teachings if they only knew the truth that sets one free…”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 19-20.
Charles de Foucald
by Ray at THCCharles de Foucald was born to great wealth in 1858. One day, while in St. Augustine Church in Paris, as the priest elevated the Host, he was overheard to say: “My God, You are real!” He later said, “in a single instant … my heart was touched and I believed.” That belief helped him compose the following prayer:
“Oh Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament in our churches, You give us solace and refuge; You give us faith, hope, love and hospitality. You build for us an inner retreat, an ardent reposed. Help us to seek You and find You in the tabernacle.”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 16-17.
I Felt It
by Ray at THCAfter my conversion experience (which happened during the first Mass I attended), I visited many churches in an effort to bargain with God (‘OK, I’ll be a Christian, but do I have to be a Catholic?’) … I received Commmunion at that first Mass, and was flooded with joy, peace, and, most of all, a Real Presence I knew could only be Christ. I knew nothing at all of Catholic theology at that point; it wasn’t that I ‘believed’ in the Real Presence–I felt it. During the month or two when I went to other churches, I received communion. I remember crying once afterward, because I didn’t feel that Presence, and I was afraid it had been a one-time phenomenon. Then one day, when the roads were icy, I stopped in at the Cathedral for the 12:10 Mass. There were perhaps a dozen people in the vast nave, mostly elderly. I didn’t know how to follow the Mass, so I just stayed in a corner and knelt all the way through it. The priest was not particularly inspiring–he rushed through the liturgy in a monotone. The church (at that time) was hideous –gloomy and in poor condition, with ugly green carpet and a loudly clanking furnace. Yet HE was there! Once again, I wept in joy and recognition.”
– a personal account submitted by “Terrye”
Source: http://aplusconsultingnow.com/catholic/mainsite/realpres.html
They Know the Eucharist
by Ray at THCBetty Brennan had been a worshiper of Satan and then decided to go back to church. When she did, she picked the Roman Catholic Church. Speaking to a Pentecostal prayer group, she explained why:
“every Satanic ritual is a take-off on the Roman Catholic Sacraments. They (satanists) know what the Eucharist is … Do you know that if there was a bona fide witch here and you put out thirty hosts, or a thousand hosts, and only one was consecrated, they would know immediately which one was consecrated—because of the presence!”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 129.
Arquata, Italy
by Ray at THCIn August, 2016, an earthquake rocked central Italy, including the town of Arquata, and including Our Lady of the Assumption church located in the town. It was not until a year and a half later, on February 27, 1018, when people were sifting through some of the rubble, that certain consecrated Hosts were found in the church.
The ciborium containing them, though overturned, was still inside the tabernacle. The lid was still on it. When the ciborium was opened, those present surprisingly found the Hosts in pristine condition.
According to the Italian daily newspaper Avvenire, the Bishop of Ascoli Piceno, Giovanni D’Ercole said: “A fresh baked aroma was still noticeable, which is very moving. It is a sign of hope for everyone. It tells us that Jesus also suffered the earthquake like everyone else, but he has come out alive from among the rubble.”
Fr. Angelo Ciancotti, of the Ascoli Piceno cathedral, said that the Hosts, had not undergone “any change in color, shape or scent.” He said, “there was no bacteria or mold as happens with hosts after a few weeks. Even though they were more than a year and a half old, they seemed to have been made the day before.”
In his opinion, “this prodigious and inexplicable discovery” is “a miracle, but above all a message for everyone: it is a sign that reminds us of the centrality of the Eucharist.” He added, “Jesus is telling us … ’I am in your midst. Trust in me.’”
Source: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/02/27/eucharistic-miracle-hosts-found-intact-in-church-destroyed-by-earthquake/
The Best Method of Prayer
by Ray at THC“There is no need for many words in order that we may pray properly. By faith we believe that there, in the sacred tabernacle, the good God is present. We open our hearts to Him. We rejoice that He has admitted us into His presence. This is the best method of prayer.”
– The way St. John Vianney used to teach prayer to his parishioners, according to Pope John XXIII.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for August 4, with an excerpt from On the Priesthood, by Pope John XXIII.
Listening to the Car in the Radio
by Ray at THCYesterday, I was driving in the car, listening to a Catholic radio talk show. The subject was the extent to which the priest scandal was even causing people to question their commitment to the Catholic faith. The conversation was ranging in various directions, when a woman called up and said that she, personally, would never question her own faith. She could sympathize with or understand why some may be very affected by the scandal and the betrayal of trust by leaders who are supposed to believe (in the Pauline sense of belief producing corresponding actions) in the core precepts of Christianity more than the rest of us, who have not overtly dedicated our entire lives to the service of Christ. She will never, however, leave the Church for a larger reason – Christ Himself. And why does the Roman Catholic Church mean Christ to her? The reason, she was, was “an extraordinary experience” she had in the presence of the Eucharist. She did not volunteer more.
Was this experience merely a singularly unique moment in prayer? Even that will not explain the resulting effect, which caused her to believe in the teachings of the Church such that no amount of corruption, scandal or wrongdoing could make her leave. The teachings of the Church on the Eucharist are of course that it is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ Himself. The word, “extraordinary,” simply means something outside the ordinary. An experience in Adoration or at Mass that is “extraordinary,” with the effect she admits, undoubtedly points to something with a mystical aspect.
It is not necessary for us to know the details. The salient point is she had this experience. It happens to people. It happens and they are reluctant to talk about it. It happens more than we know. It happens because Christ cares for each of us, cares about our problems, our struggles and our daily lives.
Still Good Advice, 17 Centuries Later
by Ray at THCSt. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote, in the 4th century, about how to receive Communion in the hand: “When you approach, do not come with outspread hands and fingers, but make the left hand as it were the throne of the right, which is destined to receive the King, and receive the Body of Christ into the hollow of your hand and say, ‘Amen.’ After you have purified your eyes by cautiously applying them to the Sacred Body, be careful in consuming it, that no particle fall to the ground.”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 91.